Amendments To The Guidelines On Vertical Agreements

The Authority published revised Guidelines on Vertical Agreements ("Guidelines") on March 30, 2018.

The Guidelines include newly introduced provisions and amendments with regard to online sales and MFN clauses. These changes are aimed at aligning the secondary legislation in Turkey with current European Union laws in order to meet the needs and challenges posed by evolving market conditions in a modern economy.

In relation to online sales, the Authority's main objective in revising its Guidelines was to take into consideration the necessity of providing specific provisions under the Turkish competition law regime and to harmonize the current legislative framework with the approach adopted by the European Commission's Guidelines on Vertical Restraints. In its announcement, the Authority stated that the emergence of the internet platform as a new distribution channel provides consumers with the opportunity to (i) easily access large amounts of information, (ii)